House Votes To Undercut High Court On Property

Sensenbrenner said last week's decision, Kelo v. City of New London , "has the potential of becoming the Dred Scott decision of the 21st century." He was referring to the 1857 ruling that affirmed slaves as private property, even when they had escaped to non-slave states.

Rhetoric was just as sharp at a gathering here of conservative activists urging the Senate to confirm U.S. appellate court nominee Henry W. Saad of Michigan. Victoria Toensing of the Committee for Justice accused Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) of waging "a vendetta" against Saad, noting that the nominee is Arab American, as is his advocate, former senator Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.). Asked if she was suggesting that Levin's being Jewish had a role in his actions, Toensing replied: "I don't know. I know these are two Arab Americans, and you'll have to ask that of Senator Levin." Levin had no immediate response.

The Supreme Court ruling allows local governments to force property owners to sell and make way for private economic development when government officials decide it would benefit the public, even if the property is not blighted and the new project's success is not guaranteed. The ruling greatly broadened the types of projects for which the government may seize property to include not only bridges and highways but also slum clearance and land redistribution.

Opponents say property owners should not be forced to sell to make way for private commercial projects.

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) praised the amendment, introduced by Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.), as "an important first step" and said he is "extremely disappointed and surprised that the House Democratic leadership voted against this amendment."

Sensenbrenner said at the news conference with DeLay that federal money "will not be used to finance taking somebody's property from them to build a strip mall or a hotel or something simply because more tax revenue will come in as a result of an improvement." He said the decision "shows that the majority of the court had an utter disrespect for private property."

Blunt said, "Lots of members are hearing from the people they work for that this is an unacceptable intrusion."

In the roll call on the House amendment, 192 Republicans voted for and 31 against, with 39 Democrats voting for and 157 against. The lone independent, Rep. Bernie Sanders (Vt.), voted against. Maryland and Virginia lawmakers voted with their parties except Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), who voted in favor, and Reps. Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.) and Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), who voted against.